James Salter Quotes

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

We can often do more by doing less. God is not particularly interested in quantity production. That is an American standard, not a Bible standard.

Live uncluttered lives so you could have time for what is most important.

The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.

I am convinced that there can be luxury in simplicity.

A dead hydrangea is as intricate and lovely as one in bloom. Bleak sky is as seductive as sunshine, miniature orange trees without blossom or fruit are not defective; they are that.

It's not about having it all. It's about having what you value most.

It's better to have fewer things of quality than too much expendable junk.

You get the most out of what you need the least.

Simplicity is never a matter of circumstances; simplicity is a matter of focus. So in the midst of educating and parenting our children, we can't necessarily go ahead and make everything fit into neat, controllable, simple schedules. But the point is, simplicity is: how do we keep our eyes fixed and focused on Christ, no matter where we are?

Happiness is, in truth, a very cheap thing, when the heart will be contented to traffic with nature - art has quite a different price.

The things that brought me the most comfort now were too small to list. Raspberries in cream. Sparrows with cocked heads. Shadows of bare limbs making for sidewalk filigrees. Roses past their prime with their petals loose about them. The shouts of children at play in the neighborhood, Ginger Rogers on the black-and-white screen.

The greatest part of what we say and do is really unnecessary. If a man takes this to heart, he will have more leisure and less uneasiness.

There is a joy in going without things, a fine tang in eliminating the superfluous.

There's no shame in enjoying the quiet life.

The natural is so awesome that we need not go beyond it.

Beautiful, see the cloud, the cloud appear. Beautiful, see the rain, the rain draw near.

As to the garden, it seems to me its chief fruit is-blackbirds.

You find out that all this stuff you've accumulated, you could care less about it. It's just the relationships that matter.

Simplified living is about more than doing less. It’s being who God called us to be, with a wholehearted, single-minded focus.

There's a movement for simplifying your life: purchase less stuff, own a few things that are very high quality that last a long time, and that are multifunctional.

The frost makes a flower, the dew makes a star.

At times it seemed unfair that I should be paid for my work; for driving out in the early morning with the fields glittering under the first pale sunshine and the wisps of mist still hanging on the high tops.

For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well